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Iowa caucus live updates: Buttigieg, Sanders reach virtual tie with 100 percent of results released

The first-in-the-nation voting state was thrown into disarray late Monday after the Iowa Democratic Party delayed releasing results.

The Iowa Democratic Party announced the release of 100 percent of the state caucus results Thursday night, showing Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders neck and neck in their lead over the rest of the Democratic candidates. The results could change as more data is examined, and NBC has not called a winner in the race.

The Iowa Democrats' announcement comes after Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez called on state party officials to recanvass the results of Monday's caucuses amid growing concerns about their accuracy (see NBC News' review of the results).

Caucusgoers gathered at nearly 1,700 sites across Iowa on Monday night to tally support for their preferred candidates only for the count to be thrown into disarray when what Iowa Democrats called "inconsistencies" delayed the reporting of results.

The state has 41 pledged delegates up for grabs, and the high-stakes contest traditionally plays a major role in determining who is a legitimate contender in the race. Candidates in the crowded Democratic field needed to meet a threshold of support (at least 15 percent of attendees at most caucus sites) to become viable, or they saw supporters move on to someone else.

Highlights from the Iowa caucuses

Download the NBC News app for full coverage and alerts on the latest news.

Biden makes staffing changes after 'punch in the gut' poor showing in Iowa

Marianna Sotomayor

Mike Memoli and Marianna Sotomayor

Joe Biden has tapped a senior aide to take on an "expanded role" in the day-to-day operations of his campaign, the first tangible shift in strategy for the one-time national frontrunner since a disappointing fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses.

The announcement came in an email to staff on Thursday night from campaign manager Greg Schultz and chairman Steve Ricchetti, in which they also acknowledged some staff-level departures after the Iowa "punch in the gut" coupled with new hires and an eye toward Super Tuesday on March 3.

Dunn had already been playing a key role at the highest levels of the Biden operation, primarily focused on communications strategy and debate prep. The internal email, which was first reported by The New York Times, said she now "will be working closely with us on campaign strategy and overall coordination on budget and personnel as we build a bigger campaign for the next phase."

Read the story.

FIRST READ: What stands out after Iowa is Bernie Sanders' limited crossover appeal

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Mark Murray

Carrie Dann

Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann

Yes, Bernie Sanders could very well end up being the odds-on favorite to win the Democratic nomination — if he wins New Hampshire and Nevada.

And especially if Pete Buttigieg/Joe Biden/Michael Bloomberg split up the vote in the party’s moderate lane beginning on Super Tuesday.

But now that the dust — or more accurately, all the mess — has settled after Iowa, it becomes clear that Sanders only had an “ok” night in the Hawkeye State.

He might have met expectations, but he certainly didn’t exceed them. Turnout was lower than expected. And the entrance poll showed him with limited crossover appeal outside of his young, very liberal base.

Get the rest of First Read.

NBC News review of Iowa caucus vote finds potential errors, inconsistencies

The Iowa Democratic caucus results are rife with potential errors and inconsistencies that could affect the outcome of the election, according to a review by the NBC News Decision Desk.

The apparent mistakes — spotted in at least dozens of the state's 1,711 precincts — call into question the accuracy of the outcome of Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus, which was held on Monday night.

In some individual precincts, it may be possible to fix the errors; in other precincts, it will probably be impossible to determine how voters truly made their choices.

The potential errors and inconsistencies take on importance because of the closeness of the contest between the two front-runners — former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Read the story.

Yang fires dozens of Iowa staff

Entrepreneur Andrew Yang's campaign is letting go of "dozens" of staff in Iowa, including its national political and policy directors, the campaign confirmed to NBC News.

“As part of our original plans following the Iowa caucuses, we are winding down our Iowa operations and restructuring to compete as the New Hampshire primary approaches," campaign manager Zach Graumann said in a statement.

Graumann called the firings "a natural evolution of the campaign post-Iowa, same as other campaigns have undertaken."

Yang "is going to keep fighting for the voices of the more than 400,000 supporters who have donated to the campaign and placed a stake in the future of our country,” Graumann said.

Politico first reported the dismissals.

With the majority of the results reported by the Iowa Democratic Party, Yang appears to have finished sixth in Iowa, with about 1 percent of state delegate equivalents.

Sanders, Buttigieg declare themselves Iowa winners

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Shaquille Brewster

Priscilla Thompson

Gary Grumbach, Shaquille Brewster and Priscilla Thompson

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday declared a "very strong victory" in Iowa's caucuses, days after the state's botched process delayed the release of results.

"What I wanna do today, three days late, is to thank the people of Iowa for the very strong victory they gave us for the caucuses Monday night," Sanders said.

Sanders acknowledged he was disappointed to be making the declaration to reporters at a campaign office in a strip mall in New Hampshire, instead of to voters in Iowa, but suggested that it was the right move compared to rival Pete Buttigieg, who made his own declaration of victory in Iowa on Monday night, before any results had been released.

Buttigieg was triumphant when he addressed supporters Monday before any official results were released and continued to claim victory through the week.

At a New York fundraiser on Wednesday, Buttigieg continued to tout an Iowa win.

"There is just no question that Monday in Iowa represents an astonishing victory for our vision, for our candidacy and for this country," he said, hailing the contest as a demonstration of his ability to win across rural, suburban and urban areas, as well as places that had previously voted for Donald Trump.

2020 candidates react to Iowa caucus recanvassing

Dartunorro Clark

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., told reporters on Thursday that he is not concerned about the DNC calling for a recanvass of votes after a confusing, protracted Iowa caucus underscored by "inconsistencies" found in election data.

“We won an 8-person election by some 6,000 votes," Sanders said after hearing DNC chair Tom Perez calling for the recanvass. "That is not going to change.”

As of Thursday, Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, had his lead over Sanders narrowed with 97 percent of the caucus vote released. Though the Iowa Democratic caucus results are not actual votes cast and the percentages released are known as state delegate equivalents, or SDEs - calculated through an algorithm - Sanders lead Buttigieg in raw vote totals. 

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., supported the decision. She told NBC News on Thursday that "you have to make sure that every single vote was counted."

"Sometimes in caucuses things can be close," she said. "You have to go back in and figure it out." 

A recanvass is essentially a double-checking of the vote through a hand audit of caucus worksheets and reporting forms to verify calculations. 

DNC chair calls for Iowa to recanvass caucus vote, says 'enough is enough'

Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez is calling on Iowa Democratic officials to immediately recanvass Monday's caucus vote after days of uncertainty and growing concerns about the accuracy of the results.

"Enough is enough," Perez said in a tweet. "In light of the problems that have emerged in the implementation of the delegate selection plan and in order to assure public confidence in the results, I am calling on the Iowa Democratic Party to immediately begin a recanvass."

Pete Buttigieg was clinging to the narrowest of leads in Iowa over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Thursday, with 97 percent of the caucus vote released.

Read the story.

Some Iowa results have been in the mail

Iowa Democrats have been delayed in reporting 100 percent of the results of Monday night's caucuses because some precinct chairs mailed in their worksheets Tuesday morning, and a small number of packets have been in the mail, according to a participant in a Democratic conference call Wednesday night and an Iowa Democratic official familiar with what was discussed.

Troy Price, the Iowa Democratic Party chairman, told participants on the call that the party's call center was overwhelmed with call volume and that the Democratic National Committee offered assistance with  their own call center, the sources also said.

A more combative Biden works to stave off collapse after Iowa letdown

NASHUA, N.H. — Iowa may have been a “gut punch” for Joe Biden, but the next two states could deliver a knockout blow to his presidential bid if he doesn’t deliver a better performance.

The former vice president has grown more combative with his main Democratic rivals this week in an attempt to shore up his support in primaries in New Hampshire and Nevada, where victory is far from assured. Going 0 for 3 would risk shattering the front-runner status Biden has held nationally, and raise questions about his unique “electability” against President Donald Trump — the central argument of his candidacy.

And so on Wednesday, Biden ripped into Pete Buttigieg as “a risk” due to his inexperience, and blasted Bernie Sanders’ “democratic socialist” label as lacking viability in a general election. "Donald Trump is desperate to pin the label of ‘socialist’ on our party. We can’t let him do that," Biden told voters at a campaign event in New Hampshire this week.

Read more here.

Buttigieg responds to Iowa voter who pulled her support after realizing he's gay

Pete Buttigeig on Wednesday praised a campaign volunteer who responded to an Iowa caucusgoer's decision to rescind her support after learning that Buttigieg is in same-sex marriage, saying he was proud that the volunteer had spoke to the woman "with respect."

MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle asked the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, about a viral video of the encounter.

“How real is that? How big of an issue is that for you?” Ruhle asked.

Buttigieg, who has been married to Chasten Buttigieg since 2018, said he “felt proud of our organizer volunteer,” precinct captain Nikki van den Heever, “who on my behalf was speaking to her and speaking to her with respect.”

Read the story.

A more combative Biden works to stave off collapse after Iowa letdown

Iowa may have been a “gut punch” for Joe Biden, but the next two states could deliver a knockout blow to his presidential bid if he doesn’t deliver a better performance.

The former vice president has grown more combative with his main Democratic rivals this week in an attempt to shore up his support in New Hampshire and Nevada, where victory is far from assured. Going 0 for 3 would risk shattering the front-runner status Biden has held nationally, and raise questions about his unique “electability” against President Donald Trump — the central argument for his candidacy.

And so on Wednesday, Biden ripped into Pete Buttigieg as “a risk” due to his inexperience, and blasted Bernie Sanders’ “democratic socialist” label as lacking viability in a general election. "Donald Trump is desperate to pin the label of ‘socialist’ on our party. We can’t let him do that," he told voters in New Hampshire.

Read the story.

Buttigieg, Sanders neck and neck in Iowa with nearly all votes reported

Pete Buttigieg was clinging to the narrowest of leads in Iowa over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Thursday, with 97 percent of the caucus vote released.

Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was at 26.2 percent and Sanders had 26 percent, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren running behind at 18.2 percent. Former Vice President Joe Biden had 15.8 percent, Sen. Amy Klobuchar at 12.2 percent and other candidates were in low single digits.

Iowa Democratic caucus results are not actual votes cast. The percentages, based on partial returns of the estimated number of state convention delegates won by each candidate through the caucus process, are known as state delegate equivalents, or SDEs.

The totals were put out by the Iowa Democratic Party over the past two days after chaos over the caucuses on Monday night. More data may be released on Thursday.

NBC News has not called a winner in the first-in-the-nation contest.

Read the story.

'Clog the lines': Iowa caucus hotline posted online with encouragement to disrupt results reporting

The phone number to report Iowa caucus results was posted on a fringe internet message board on Monday night along with encouragement to “clog the lines,” an indication that jammed phone lines that left some caucus managers on hold for hours may have in part been due to prank calls.

An Iowa Democratic Party official said the influx of calls to the reporting hotline included “supporters of President Trump who called to express their displeasure with the Democratic Party.” The party official’s comments were first reported late Wednesday by Bloomberg News.

Users on a politics-focused section of the fringe 4chan message board repeatedly posted the phone number for the Iowa Democratic Party, which was found by a simple Google search, both as screenshots and in plain text, alongside instructions.

"They have to call in the results now. Very long hold times being reported. Phone line being clogged," one user posted at about 11 p.m. ET on Monday, two hours after the caucuses began.

Read the story.

Buttigieg says 'just no question' Iowa a victory for his candidacy as lead narrows

Priscilla Thompson

Speaking at a fundraiser in New York on Wednesday night, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg continued to tout the results in Iowa, saying, “There is just no question that Monday in Iowa represents an astonishing victory for our vision, for our candidacy and for this country.”

Buttigieg hailed the results as a demonstration of his ability to win across rural, suburban and urban areas, as well as places that previously voted for President Donald Trump.

At the time Buttigieg made the remarks, 92 percent of Iowa precincts were reporting. With 97 percent now in, he retains only a slight lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Iowa Democrats say Trump supporters called into vote counting hotline, causing them more problems

An Iowa Democratic Party official told NBC News that as it experienced "an unusually high volume of inbound phone calls to its caucus hotline" after an app created to reported results had faltered Monday night, including from "supporters of President [Donald] Trump."

Iowa precinct chairs had to use that hotline to report vote tallies following mishaps with the app, but many were met with lengthy wait times in order to get through. That phone number was posted online, worsening the problem.

Trump supporters calling the hotline was first reported by Bloomberg News.

Iowa Democrats did not respond to NBC News' requests for information on how many individuals manned the phone lines Monday night. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"At the outset of boiler room operations on February 3rd, the Iowa Democratic Party experienced an unusually high volume of inbound phone calls to its caucus hotline," An Iowa Democratic Party official told NBC News.

"These included callers who would hang up immediately after being connected, supporters of President Trump who called to express their displeasure with the Democratic Party, and Iowans looking to confirm details for their evening’s caucus."

"Party staff and volunteers flagged and subsequently blocked repeat callers who appeared to be reaching out in an attempt to interfere with their reporting duties," the party official continued. "Veterans of past boiler room operations described the volume of calls as highly irregular compared to previous caucuses. The unexplained, and at times hostile, calls contributed to the delay in the Iowa Democratic Party’s collection of results, but in no way affected the integrity of information gathered or the accuracy of data sets reported."

Buttigieg's slim lead narrows with 97 percent reporting

Colin Sheeley

Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg's slim lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., narrowed early Thursday, according to the latest Iowa caucus results.

The candidates remain in the same positions with 97 percent of results reported — 1,711 out of 1,765 precincts. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is in third place, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Buttigieg's narrow lead holds with 92 percent reporting

Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg continues to lead Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the latest batch of Iowa results, which was released by the state Democratic Party late Wednesday.

With 92 percent of the results reported, the candidates remain in the same positions. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is in the third place, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Get the latest updates on the Iowa results.

Iowa caucus app was rushed and flawed from the beginning, experts say

The smartphone app that caused a significant delay in reporting Iowa caucuses results suffered from technical and design flaws, and appeared to have been rushed into use, according to cybersecurity experts who examined a version of the app that was made public.

The app became the subject of widespread scrutiny after the Iowa Democratic Party said problems with reporting caucus results were partially due to “coding issues” with the app, which was being used for the first time.

Developers who were able to look at a version of the app that was made public said it suffered from two problems. 

Read the story.

Corrected batch of results narrows Buttigieg's lead over Sanders

The corrected batch of Iowa caucus results released by the state Democratic Party on Wednesday night slightly narrowed former Mayor Pete Buttigieg's lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

With 86 percent of the results now reported, the candidates remain in the same positions, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in the third spot, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden in fourth and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in fifth.

Iowa Dems to make 'minor correction' to last update, drawing ire of Sanders' camp

Still no change in candidates' positions with 85 percent of results reported

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg remained in the lead in the Iowa caucus results after the state Democratic Party on Wednesday afternoon released its second update of the day.

With 85 percent of the results now reported, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., remained in second place, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

The candidates' positions have remained the same since the state Democratic Party released initial results on Tuesday. 

After Iowa 'gut punch,' Biden sharpens criticism of Sanders and Buttigieg

Marianna Sotomayor

After taking what he called a “gut punch” in the Iowa caucuses, former Vice President Joe Biden is taking a new approach in the final days leading up to the New Hampshire primary, calling out his opponents directly to argue that they are unqualified to be the Democratic nominee.

Biden unloaded on Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg at a rally here Wednesday in an effort to forcefully provide a reality check for voters by contrasting his electability and experience argument to the two Iowa caucus frontrunners.

Even though Biden has downplayed an apparent fourth place finish in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, his agitation for his loss has been on display since arriving in New Hampshire Tuesday, where he first began to directly call out Sanders by name.

But on Wednesday he went further than just criticizing Sanders’ Medicare-for-All position, pointing at the fact that vulnerable Democratic down-ballot candidates in red and blue states alike would have to defend Sanders’ far-reaching ideas, many of which Democrats have expressed skepticism about supporting.

Read the story.

Why the results are taking so long to tally

An Iowa Democratic aide says staff is literally examining the photo or paper records that have been collected and matching it against the inputted responses, which “obviously takes time.”   

This has to be done for all three sets of data: initial preference, reallocated preference and the state delegate equivalents.

The state Democratic Party is expected to release more results Wednesday afternoon.

Latest numbers from Iowa show no change in candidates' positions

The Iowa Democratic Party released an update on the results of caucuses Wednesday afternoon, but the additional numbers show no change in the candidates' positions.

With 75 percent of the results now reported, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg retains a narrow lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., while Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., remains in third place, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

Those positions have remained the same since the state Democratic Party released initial results and an update on Tuesday. 

Biden goes after Sanders, Buttigieg

Rebecca Hankins

Mike Memoli and Rebecca Hankins

Joe Biden threw down against Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg post-Iowa, pointing out to supporters in New Hampshire that one candidate is a self-described "democratic socialist" and the other was the mayor of a small Midwestern city.

If Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, were to become the Democratic nominee, Biden said that "every Democrat in America up and down the ballot, in blue states, red states, purple states ... in easy districts, in competitive ones, every Democrat will have to carry the label Sen. Sanders has chosen for himself."

"He calls him — and I don't criticize him — he calls himself a democratic socialist," Biden continued. "Well, we are already seeing what Donald Trump is going to do with that. So when Sanders attacks me for having baggage, I have to tell you the 60-plus candidates that I campaigned for in the toughest districts in the country just two years ago don't see me as baggage. They wanted me in their districts."

"I doubt whether if many people ask Bernie Sanders to come in and campaign," Biden added. "He's a good man. But he labeled himself."

Biden then went after Buttigieg, noting that the former mayor of South Bend, Inidana, calls Biden "part of the old, failed Washington."

"Well, really? Was it a failure when I went to Congress to get Obamacare passed into law?" Biden asked. "Was it a failure when I got passed the implementation of the Recovery Act to prevent an economic collapse, another Great Depression? Was it a failure when I worked to get the Iran nuclear deal done? Was it a failure with the Paris climate accord, the Violence Against Women Act, the chemical weapons treaty, the Brady Bill, the ban on assault weapons? Was it a failure?

"Is he really saying that the Obama-Biden administration was a failure?" Biden continued. "Pete, just say it out loud. I have great respect for Mayor Pete and his service to this nation, but I do believe it's a risk, to be just straight up with you, for this party to nominate someone who has never held an office higher than mayor of a town of a 100,000 people in Indiana. I do believe it's a risk." 

Iowa Dems releasing more results Wednesday afternoon

More results out of Iowa will be released in the early afternoon, per a Democratic Party official.

"As always, the IDP's focus is on the integrity of the results, including verifying the results with the paper trail. In some cases, that means literally examining a photo or physical document to match it against the inputted responses.   

Caucus IDP organizing staff fanned out across the state to connect with precinct leadership and collect any outstanding documentation. IDP designed this system to more efficiently collect the paper records this cycle. The overwhelming majority of these documents have now been collected. Per IDP rules, these documents are stored offsite through a secure chain of custody."

Biden addresses Iowa loss: 'We took a gut punch'

Rebecca Hankins

Mike Memoli and Rebecca Hankins

Biden addressed supporters in  New Hampshire on Wednesday, his only campaign event of the day before a prime-time televised town hall.

"I am not going to sugarcoat it. We took a gut punch in Iowa, the whole process took a gut punch. But look, this isn't the first time in my life I've been knocked down," he said.

"I'm going to fight for this nomination, and I'm going to fight for it here in New Hampshire and in Nevada and then South Carolina and beyond, because I know there are an awful lot of folks out there who are writing off this campaign," he added. "But I'll tell you what — they've been trying to do that from the moment I entered the race. Well, I got news for them. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere. I'm counting on New Hampshire. We are going to come back."

Iowa caucusgoer pulls Buttigieg vote after learning he's gay, viral video shows

The Time magazine cover photo didn’t do it. Nor did the March appearance on ABC’s “The View” or a year’s worth of digital and television news stories.

It was not until Monday night — after casting her caucus vote for presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg — that an Iowa Democratic caucus voter, known only as “Geert,” first learned that the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is gay and married a man in 2018.

“Are you saying he has a same-sex partner?” the woman asked in a now viral video that has garnered almost 3 million views on Twitter. “Are you kidding?”

A person nearby confirmed that information, saying “He’s married to him, yeah,” referring to Chasten Buttigieg.

“Then I don’t want anybody like that in the White House,” the shocked caucusgoer said. “So, can I have my card back?”

Nikki van den Heever, a Buttigieg campaign precinct captain, made an effort to appeal to the voter, who was otherwise unidentified in the video.

“The whole point of it is, though, he’s a human being, right? Just like you and me, and it shouldn’t really matter,” she said.

Read more about the viral exchange here and watch below:

Biden downplays potential Iowa loss, pivots to next early states

Marianna Sotomayor

CONCORD, N.H. — Former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday downplayed his potential fourth place loss in the Iowa Caucus by pointing out that there are three early primary states left in the cycle that he could still win.

Campaigning in New Hampshire, which is just days away from holding the first primary of the Democratic race, Biden said that while he wants “to do well in Iowa,” the first four states are an essential part of winning the nomination.

Image: Joe Biden
Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event in Concord, N.H., on Feb. 4, 2020.Rick Wilking / Reuters

“I count to four. The first four are the key,” he said to reporters. “Two caucuses and two primaries. And so we'll see.”

In the final days leading up to Iowa, Biden told caucus-goers that they do not necessarily pick the nominee but instead have the power to open the gate to several candidates in an effort to narrow the field.

Looking ahead to New Hampshire, Biden asked voters gathered in the state capital to get him through to the next round since they “set the tone for the whole, whole rest of the race.”

Biden was succinct at the event, pointing out later to reporters that the full results of Iowa aren’t in yet —especially in rural counties that he courted heavily.

“At this rate, New Hampshire may get the first vote after all,” Biden told the audience of roughly 175 people. “I’d like you to rocket me out of here to make sure this thing works, OK?”

Biden also told reporters that he would not contest the results of the Iowa caucus, and pointed out that his campaign will wait until all of the results go public.

On topics other than the caucus debacle, Biden ticked through his qualifications that make him deserving of the presidency. 

Biden also took direct swipes at Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on his "Medicare for All" plan, suggesting that Sanders has flipped on explaining funding for his plans and addressed his own health care plans. 

“I'm not suggesting that those who are for Medicare for All are playing with people, but … you've got to be able to get something done,” Biden said. “Who's going to support a plan that doesn't specify how much it costs or say how he's going to pay for it?”

Biden then promised voters that if such a plan were to pass, “the middle class is going to pay a big, big premium.”

Warren touts ties to Obama in new ad

Ali Vitali

Deepa Shivaram

Ali Vitali and Deepa Shivaram

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is highlighting her relationship with former President Barack Obama in a new digital ad out today, targeting New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina voters. 

The new ad — reported first by NBC News — comes as Joe Biden, Obama's vice president, falters in Iowa, and on the same day that Michael Bloomberg also debuted an ad featuring his work with Obama.

The ad, titled "Elizabeth understands,” begins with a 2010 Rose Garden address, where Obama lauds Warren for her work fighting for the middle class.

“She’s a janitor’s daughter who has become one of the country’s fiercest advocates for the middle class,” Obama says at the top, his voice present throughout the ad. “She came up with an idea for a new, independent agency standing up for consumers and middle-class families.”

On the campaign trail, Warren often ends her town halls telling audiences about her time fighting to build the Consumer Protection Finance Bureau during the Obama administration, a message that ties into an overall theme in her campaign: She’s a fighter.

The ad also touches on that message, too, with a line from Obama, referring to the uphill battle Warren faced while trying to start the consumer bureau.

“She’s done it while facing some very tough opposition. Fortunately, she’s very tough,” he said.

Warren: 'Our democracy hangs in the balance'

Klobuchar: 'Whenever people get to know me, I do well'

Amanda Golden

When asked about the partial Iowa results, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told reporters in New Hampshire on Tuesday night that she does well when "people get to know me."

Asked about Pete Buttigieg claiming victory before any of the results were released, Klobuchar said, “He has raised money, and that is true. But at some point, when you look at the big money that's going on from some of these candidates, people are going to be tuning in, they're going to be watching the debates, they're going to be getting to know the candidates, and whenever people get to know me, I do well.”

Asked for her thoughts on the irregularities in determining the caucus results, Klobuchar said she doesn’t blame the Iowa Democratic Party “for trying to be really careful,” and added, “I don't think there's any kind of trickery going on. I think that it was just a mess-up with the system. I know they've apologized, and hopefully we will get the results by tomorrow.”

She also said she was proud of her team's efforts leading up to the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

“I know that we are still getting the results in from Iowa,” she said in starting off her remarks. "But I am so proud of the work that our team did. As I've said from the beginning, I announced in the middle of a blizzard, and a lot of people didn't even predict that I could get through the announcement. I knew New Hampshire would understand.”

FIRST READ: The takeaway from Iowa: Buttigieg, Sanders won their respective ideological lanes

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Mark Murray

Carrie Dann

Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann

Now that there are finally results to count from Iowa after the App-ocalypse that rocked the Hawkeye State, the biggest takeaway is how Pete Buttigieg emerged as the winner from the Democrats’ moderate/pragmatic lane, easily besting Joe Biden.

And how Bernie Sanders walked away from Iowa owning the liberal lane.

Looking at the entrance poll, Buttigieg tied Biden among moderates, who made up 30 percent of all caucus-goers, with Amy Klobuchar coming in right behind them.

But what made Buttigieg’s showing so strong is that he also carried the “somewhat liberals” in Iowa — who made up a great share, 42 percent — followed by Sanders, Biden and Elizabeth Warren.

Get more of First Read.

Biden camp 'not surprised and not deterred' by Iowa

Joe Biden's campaign is "not surprised and not deterred” by the partial results in Iowa, a campaign aide said Tuesday, adding that many more Democrats will soon be able to weigh as state contests continue.

Biden is “holding strong” in New Hampshire against two senators from neighboring states and sees opportunity ahead in Nevada, South Carolina and Super Tuesday, contests that are more reflective of the country’s diversity, the aide said.

Putting the partial Iowa results in context, the campaign always expected a close race there, and the difference in delegates between Biden and other candidates is likely to be no bigger than what is at stake in two congressional districts on Super Tuesday, the aide said.

The Biden campaign also noted that other campaigns have raised issues with how the Iowa caucuses were run and how results were collected and reported, and it continues to believe the Iowa Democratic Party owes candidates a fuller accounting for the outcome.

Buttigieg tells N.H. crowd 'something extraordinary' happened

Priscilla Thompson

At his final event of the day on Tuesday, Pete Buttigieg told hundreds of supporters at the Concord City Auditorium in Concord, New Hampshire, that he was 'humbled' by the 'extraordinary' results in Iowa and explained that he knew how well he had done because his campaign was able to track some of the returns.

"I haven't had a lot of sleep in the last 48 hours but I'm having a very good day," the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor said to applause. "We are having a very good day. And we have a lot of work to do so I'm here humbled by good news that's come over the airwaves today."

"But now we have got to earn a victory one week from today in New Hampshire, and I believe you're going to help us do just that," he added.

When asked when he knew he had secured a “victory” in Iowa, Buttigieg said that because caucuses happen in the open, his team was able to track the results as they came in.

"And what we saw told us that, even as we're getting the final math figured out and waiting for ... those verified results, that something extraordinary had happened, that this campaign that a lot of folks thought shouldn't even be there had taken its place in the very front ranks of this process." 

“Now, let me say that we're still waiting on more math to come through,” he added. “But what we know without any doubt is that our vision has been validated, and that this is an astonishing victory for our organization, our values, our campaign, and our candidacy.”

Sanders says he's 'very proud' of Iowa results

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday night touted the partial results from the Iowa caucuses, telling supporters at a rally in New Hampshire that he was "very proud" to tell them he had "received more votes on the first and second round than any other candidate.” 

"For some reason in Iowa, they're having a little bit of trouble counting votes," Sanders said in his first public event since the Iowa caucuses. "But I am confident that here in New Hampshire, I know they'll be able to count your votes on election night. And when you count those votes, I look forward to winning here in New Hampshire.”

Partial returns show the Vermont senator and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg at the front of the pack of Democratic candidates, with 27 percent and 25 percent respectively. The percentages, based on partial returns of the number of state convention delegates won by each candidate through the caucus process, are known as state delegate equivalents, or SDEs, and is the traditional result reported by the state Democratic Party.

This year, however, Iowa Democrats also chose to release two other sets of results, what NBC News' elections unit is calling initial preference and reallocated preference — part of a rules change to increase transparency into the process. In those two sets of results, Sanders appears to lead.

Read more about that here.

Weld: 'Despite the formidable obstacle, we came in second'

Iowa Democrats release more results

The Iowa Democratic Party on Tuesday night released more results from Monday's caucuses, but the latest numbers don't change the positions of the candidates and remain inconclusive.

With about 71 percent of results from all 99 of Iowa's counties now released, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., are still at the front of the pack, with about 27 percent and 25 percent, respectively, according to the partial results.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has about 18 percent, former Vice President Joe Biden about 15.5 percent, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., nearly 13 percent, the results say.

Why more than one candidate could declare victory in Iowa

After significant delays, the Iowa Democratic Party on Tuesday began releasing the results of the caucuses the day before — a move that could cause more confusion thanks to the state party's decision to report three sets of results all at once.

The first set of results show, based the partial returns, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., vying for first place, with 27 percent and 25 percent respectively.

The percentages, based on partial returns of the number of state convention delegates won by each candidate through the caucus process, are known as state delegate equivalents, or SDEs. Traditionally, this result has been the only one reported by the state party, and it's how NBC News will eventually declare a winner in Iowa.

But this year, the Iowa Democratic Party chose to release two other sets of results, what NBC News' elections unit is calling initial preference and reallocated preference — part of a rules change to increase transparency into the process.

In those two sets of results, Sanders appears to lead.

Read the story.

Biden to N.H. supporters: 'I'd like you to rocket me out of here'

Ryan Beals

Mike Memoli and Ryan Beals

Speaking in New Hampshire on Tuesday night, former Vice President Joe Biden said he needs supporters in the state to launch him ahead has he goes into Nevada and South Carolina.

"And I'm counting on you to make sure you send me off in a way that — there's nothing to come back from yet, but I'd like you to rocket me out of here to make sure this thing works, okay?" Biden said.

"Because if I come out of here well, you guys are gonna set the tone for the whole, whole rest of the race. And it's time for New Hampshire to speak, and I'm looking forward to make my case all across the state until Tuesday."

Biden began his remarks with a comment on the counting problems in Iowa, saying, "You know, 24 hours later they're still trying to figure out what the heck happened in Iowa. At this rate, New Hampshire might get the first vote  after all." 

ANALYSIS: The Iowa caucuses' muddled vote count was a debacle, but not for Joe Biden

David Wasserman

Last spring, the dean of Iowa political journalists, David Yepsen, presciently warned the Cook Political Report that the Iowa Democratic Party's new caucus bells and whistles — four different measurements of results, satellite caucus sites and a new reporting system — could make for a nightmare in reporting results.

On Monday, after his prediction came true and the party was unable provide any results on Election Night, Yepsen was even more morose: "RIP caucuses. And after the GOP fiasco of 2012, Iowa probably shouldn't even try."

But the real danger for Democrats goes beyond one state party's reputation. It's that the chaotic count and the muddled result could presage a messy, protracted primary slog that could go all the way to the Milwaukee convention in July and imperil party unity heading into the fall.

With results from 71 percent of precincts reported by the state party as of 1:15 a.m. ET Wednesday, it's possible — even likely — that Pete Buttigieg will have won a narrow plurality of state delegate equivalents and that Bernie Sanders will have won a plurality of caucusgoers' first preferences. At first glance, the biggest loser would seem to be Joe Biden, currently in fourth place. But the media spotlight on the tallying debacle and the muddled finish at the top — rather than Biden's finish itself — may be welcome news for the former vice president.

Read the analysis.

Perez: Iowa results app 'will not be used in Nevada or anywhere else'

Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez said Tuesday that the app used to tally results in Iowa's caucuses "will not be used in Nevada or anywhere else" during the primary.

"What happened last night should never happen again," Perez said in a statement. "We have staff working around the clock to assist the Iowa Democratic Party to ensure that all votes are counted. It is clear that the app in question did not function adequately. It will not be used in Nevada or anywhere else during the primary election process. The technology vendor must provide absolute transparent accounting of what went wrong."

“Our immediate goal is to ensure that every vote is counted as quickly as possible," Perez added. "Accuracy is our guidepost."

Ryan Beals

Buttigieg: Iowa showing 'one more proof point for the possibility of American belonging'

Ryan Beals

Buttigieg said Tuesday that Iowans on Monday night "talked about where they wanted this country to go and in astonishingly encouraging numbers supported the vision of this campaign."

Speaking about the delayed early results, the former mayor added that he wished "they had come in sooner since this is the best piece of news I think our campaign's gotten since I entered this race. But I also hope that we recognize that this is a set of numbers and a set of choices made by individual Iowans that has verified, that has a paper trail behind it, and that shows just what is possible for a campaign that started with nothing and built up over the course of the year with a message, a team, and a vision for where we need to go that clearly drew a lot of people in."

Asked what advice he would give to children "looking for that same sense of belonging who were  in your shoes when you were their age," Buttigieg said, "That it gets better and to believe in what's possible in this country. To believe in yourself.

"Not that it'll be easy," he said. "Our country has so many patterns of exclusion that takes so many different forms, but that's exactly what this campaign is about — that we can trade that exclusion for a sense of belonging, and I want everybody to feel one more proof point for the possibility of American belonging after seeing yesterday's results."

Warren claims 'strong position' in stretch to Super Tuesday

Sanders campaign touts partial results

Sen. Bernie Sanders' senior campaign adviser Jeff Weaver said Tuesday that the campaign is "gratified that in the partial data released so far, it’s clear that in the first and second round more people voted for Bernie than any other candidate in the field.” 

Buttigieg: Results validate 'for a kid ... wondering if he or she belongs' to believe in self and country

Rebecca Hankins

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg celebrated the early Iowa results in remarks to supporters in New Hampshire on Tuesday, saying that while they don't know the final numbers, "we do know this much: A campaign that started a year ago with four staff members, no name recognition, no money, just a big idea, a campaign that some said should have no business even making this attempt has taken its place at the front of this race to replace the current president with a better vision for America."

He added that the showing "validates the idea that we can expand a coalition not only unified around who it is we are against but what it is we are for. And it validates for a kid somewhere in a community, wondering if he or she belongs or they belong in their own family, that if you believe in yourself and your country there's a lot backing up that belief." 

Buttigieg didn't get much sleep

Iowa Democrats release partial caucus results

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Dartunorro Clark

Ali Vitali

Dartunorro Clark, Ali Vitali and Vaughn Hillyard

The Iowa Democratic Party on Tuesday released partial results from Monday night’s caucuses after a lengthy delay caused by a “coding issue” with an app used to report the data.

The partial results, which are from each of the state’s 99 counties but are inconclusive, show Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders at the front of the pack, although those positions may not hold when all the votes are eventually counted. The results also show former Vice President Joe Biden, the national front-runner, trailing the Iowa leaders. 

The data release comes after a storm of criticism from the campaigns about how the party conducted the caucus process.

Read the story.

Bennet campaign, in memo to supporters, seeks to 'capitalize on the chaos'

Amanda Golden

Sen. Michael Bennet’s presidential campaign manager Daniel Barash is releasing a memo to supporters on the campaign’s goal to exceed expectations and surge in the New Hampshire primary Feb. 11.

“While chaos emerged in Iowa last night, Michael was in New Hampshire holding a town hall and talking to voters,” Barash writes. “It goes without saying, the events of last night validated our New Hampshire-first  approach.”

The memo details “strategic goals” to increase awareness of the campaign, build momentum, and “capitalize on the chaos in Iowa,” saying they need more resources and capacity to do it all.

“The number one way to ensure more voters learn about Michael and his vision for the country is through paid advertising,” Barash writes before soliciting contributions from supporters.

Disarray in Iowa raises N.H. stakes and reshapes Democratic contest

A lingering fog of uncertainty over the results of the year's first presidential nominating contest raised the stakes for the Democratic contenders as they descended on the Granite State ahead of the second.

The chaos seemed poised to deny the strongest Iowa finishers at least a share of potential momentum — and provide at least a temporary respite for underperformers.

As some declared victory in Iowa hours before the announcement of any vote counts, national Democratic front-runner Joe Biden's campaign preemptively questioned the integrity of the results — highlighting the risk the outcome in Iowa may pose to the former vice president's carefully-cultivated "electability" advantage ahead of New Hampshire's Feb. 11 primary.

Pete Buttigieg and his campaign continued to claim victory Tuesday, long before any results were due for public release. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign released internal caucus results based on data from 60 percent of Iowa precincts, ahead of Buttigieg and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, with Biden in a distant fourth place — but sounded less thrilled with the outcome than Buttigieg.

Meanwhile, Warren, D-Mass., told voters at a town hall in Keene, New Hampshire, on Tuesday morning that she was in "a tight three-way race at the top" with Sanders and Buttigieg.

Read the story.

Biden 'happy' to head to New Hampshire

Marianna Sotomayor

Hours after arriving in the first-in-the-nation primary state, former Vice President Joe Biden sounded relieved to be out of Iowa amid the uncertainty of the caucus results.

“Folks, it really is, and I really mean it, you have no idea how happy we were to be heading to New Hampshire and Nashua,” Biden said in between laughs.

Although he joked about how quickly he got out of Iowa, Biden said he believed the campaign “had a good night” in the Hawkeye State. He told the roughly 150 people gathered in a Nashua gym that he believes the campaign will get a “fair share” of delegates even though he doesn’t “know precisely” how that breakdown would be.

Biden cautioned against drawing any final conclusions about the night and subtly spoke out against his opponents who immediately declared victory without results.

“But, you know, be careful what you say because it’s not done yet,” Biden said at the top of his remarks. “I'm not being critical. Let's give [the Iowa Democratic Party] time to work out those issues carefully and diligently because a lot depends on it.”

Sen. Kaine: Iowa situation a 'tragic set of mistakes'

Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee, called the situation in Iowa "a tragic, tragic set of mistakes."

"I mean, I just, I feel for the voters, I feel for the volunteers, I feel for these candidates, I feel for everybody who spent all this time paying attention to it," he added. "I mean I just can't imagine what's happened. Now what can learn from it, you've got to get the answer to what went wrong before you jump to a conclusion about what to learn from it. But it's a disaster."

Warren, Klobuchar, Bloomberg campaign managers talk delay's impact

'Wake-up call': Iowa caucus disinformation serves as warning about 2020 election

Tech companies and election officials spent the past three years working to address the vulnerabilities that allowed Russia to promote disinformation and sow political divisions ahead of the 2016 election.

On Tuesday night, though, it didn’t take foreign interference to highlight the persistent vulnerabilities around the 2020 election. Americans proved perfectly capable of spreading disinformation on their own.

“This might be a great wake-up call,” said Alex Stamos, the director of the Stanford Internet Observatory, former head of security at Facebook and an NBC cybersecurity analyst. “If it turns out that this disaster has very little long-term effect on the primary, it's a great demonstration of what could go wrong on election night.”

One day after Americans cast their first votes in the election cycle, conspiracy theories, delayed election results and political opportunism intermingled online to create what disinformation researchers warn could be a harbinger of a self-inflicted worst-case scenario for the 2020 election.

Read the story.

Ex-Obama campaign manager: 'Those that did poorly are not going to pay the price'

Emma Thorne

David Plouffe, a former campaign manager for Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, said Tuesday that the caucus results delay only adds to the questions about the Democratic process in Iowa, adding that the lack of results will affect the momentum of both the winning and losing candidates.

“I think there are already a lot of questions building about the caucuses," Plouffe told MSNBC. "Obviously  I have personal experience with the caucuses, I was an Iowa Democratic employee. I think there’s a lot of positives to them, but it’s hard to argue now because we've had cycle after cycle where there are issues.”

Plouffe added, “I don’t know how materially it  changes the race, but I do think those that did well in Iowa aren’t going to get the full measure, the momentum bounce, and Iowa's much more about momentum than delegates. And those that did poorly are not going to pay the price.”

 

Buttigieg still using v-word despite no official results

Priscilla Thompson

On the campaign trail Tuesday in New Hampshire, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg continued to use the v-word to describe his showing in Iowa on Monday — even though the Iowa Democratic Party won't be releasing any results for another couple of hours.

"We are still waiting on some math, but one thing we know is that we are arriving with the momentum in the 2020 presidential campaign right now, and we had a victorious night in Iowa that shocked the pundits and will compel us to victory."

On Monday, he was among several candidates to deliver victory-like speeches once it became clear the caucus results wouldn't materialize before the end of the night. The others included Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., entrepreneur Andrew Yang.

Caucus chaos sparks fresh calls for an end to Iowa's leadoff status

WASHINGTON — Iowa Democrats woke up Tuesday worrying that they might have been first for the last time.

The Iowa Democratic Party’s inability to declare a caucus winner Monday night added fresh fuel to calls from Democrats in other states for the order of the primary process to be reconsidered, potentially leaving the future of Iowa's coveted first-in-the-nation status in greater jeopardy than ever before.

Although toying with the idea of reordering the presidential nominating calendar is a perennial political tradition, the voices this cycle arguing to strip Iowa of its kickoff slot were already louder and more impassioned, saying that the honored position on the calendar should go to a more diverse state — and one that did not adhere to the caucus system.

The chaos that began Monday night appeared to give ammunition to those critics.

Read more here.

Pence's chief of staff: 'If Democrats fumbled the football, that's not Iowa's fault'

Company behind Iowa results app expresses 'regret' over glitches

Warren on Iowa Dems' plan to release more than half of data: 'I just don't understand what that means'

Ali Vitali

Responding to the Iowa Democratic Party's announcement that it plans to release "more than 50 percent" of the caucus results late Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Elizabeth Warren told NBC News "they ought to get it together and release all of the data."

"That's what we need," Warren, D-Mass., said. "They should get all of the data. We're doing what we can to help and are calling on the other campaigns to do the same."

"I just don't understand what that means to release half of the data.," Warren said.

Troy Price, the Iowa Democratic Party chairman, told the campaigns during a call on Tuesday that the party expects more than 50 percent of all results by 5 p.m. ET. Price gave no timeline on when full results would come, but assured the campaigns repeatedly that they “have a process in place.”

Bloomberg to double ad spending, expand staff

Josh Lederman

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg's campaign is doubling its ad spending following Monday night’s Iowa caucuses, a campaign official confirms to NBC News.

The official also says the campaign will increase its staff to more than 2,000 people.

The ad spending will increase immediately, including more in places where they were already on the air and in additional media markets, a campaign officials said. 

"After more than a year of this primary, the field is as unsettled as ever," campaign spokeswoman Galia Slayen said. "No one has made the sale or even come close to it. Meanwhile, Mike is taking the fight to Trump every day, doubling down on the national campaign strategy we've been running from the beginning."

The New York Times first reported on the campaign's expansion.

Bloomberg's campaign has said it plans to keep going through the November election even if he doesn't win the Democratic nomination — a move that could mean an unprecedented level of personal spending for the candidate.

An eerie foreshadowing?

Sanders: 'Not a good night for democracy'

Before leaving Iowa for New Hampshire, Sen. Bernie Sanders expressed disappointment with the caucusing process, saying, "This is not a good night for democracy."

"We are not declaring victory," Sanders, I-Vt., told reporters aboard his campaign plane, an apparent swipe at former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who all but declared victory in a speech Monday night despite the lack of results, and other candidates who did similarly. "I don't know how anybody declares victory before you have an official statement as to the election results," Sanders said.

Asked about voter confidence, Sanders said, "This is not a good night for democracy. You know, if I’m a first time voter when I came out and I voted, and the results are not coming in for 16 hours, you know, it's a little bit disconcerting.”

Iowa TV ad spending over the past year: $68 million-plus

Capped crusaders: Trump campaign surrogates take to the skies after Iowa

Image: Trump campaign charter
Cabinet secretaries, including Ben Carson and Wilbur Ross, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Trump's eldest son Don Jr., and several lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, on the Trump campaign charter.Courtesy of Tim Murtaugh

Klobuchar touts herself as 'a steady hand in chaos' after Iowa caucuses

Amanda Golden

Ryan Beals

Amanda Golden and Ryan Beals

Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Tuesday kicked off her swing through New Hampshire with a reference to the lack of Iowa results, calling herself "a steady hand in chaos" and saying she feels "really good" about where the campaign is.

"What an amazing night we had last night!" Klobuchar, D-Minn., told supporters in Concord. "I'm someone that thrives in chaos. You want a steady hand in chaos, right? And so we got in last night to New Hampshire at something like 4 in the morning to an incredible group of volunteers. Are any of you still awake that were there? And that was just such a warm beginning to the week that we are going to spend here." 

Although the campaign is waiting for Iowa results, "I can tell you that we feel really good about where we are, and we won so many precincts and delegates that I don't think people gave us a chance to win," she said. "And it had this grassroots feeling that New Hampshire would be proud about."

 

Nevada Democrats won't use app that caused Iowa caucus fiasco

DES MOINES, Iowa — Nevada’s Democratic Party said Tuesday it will not use the trouble-plagued app used in Iowa’s Democratic caucuses that contributed to ongoing delays in the reporting of results here.

The app used in Iowa had been initially set to be used in the upcoming Nevada caucus on Feb. 22. The same company developed both the Iowa and Nevada Democratic party caucuses apps.

Nevada’s Democratic Party said it had previously created backup plans for its reporting systems and was in the process of “evaluating the best path forward.”

"NV Dems can confidently say that what happened in the Iowa caucus last night will not happen in Nevada on February 22nd. We will not be employing the same app or vendor used in the Iowa caucus,” Nevada State Democratic Party Chair William McCurdy II said in a statement.

“We had already developed a series of backups and redundant reporting systems, and are currently evaluating the best path forward,” he added.

Read more here.

Buttigieg campaign contracts with app-maker for text-messaging service, and so has Biden's

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Stephanie Ruhle

Josh Lederman

Vaughn Hillyard, Stephanie Ruhle and Josh Lederman

A Buttigieg campaign official confirms that the campaign contracts with Shadow Inc., the tech company that built the app that failed Monday night in Iowa, for text-messaging service.

But the official says Buttigieg’s campaign does not contract with the company for apps, like the one used by the Iowa Democratic Party. The official says the campaign contracted with Shadow before the Iowa Democratic Party started working with them.

Buttigieg’s campaign isn’t the only one to contract with Shadow. Federal Election Commission records show the Biden campaign also has contracted with the company for text messages. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s campaign had also contracted with them for software and fundraising consulting, according to Federal Election Commission records. 

Iowa Democratic Party to release 'majority' of caucus results Tuesday afternoon

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Ali Vitali

Dartunorro Clark

Ali Vitali, Dartunorro Clark and Vaughn Hillyard

The Iowa Democratic Party said Tuesday it plans to release the majority of the results from the Iowa caucus by 5 p.m. ET.

The news comes after a dizzying night of caucusing and a delay in releasing votes after the party said there were inconsistencies in the reporting of data due to a “coding issue” in an app the party used for the first time to calculate the results.

The delay in votes had frustrated the presidential candidates, who tried to rally their supporters despite the uncertainty as the election looks to the New Hampshire state primary.

Troy Price, the Iowa Democratic Party chairman told the campaigns on Tuesday during a call that the party expects more than 50 percent of all results by 5 p.m. ET. However, Price gave no timeline on when full results would come.

Read more here.

With Iowa results still unknown, Buttigieg pivots to New Hampshire

Priscilla Thompson

Liz Brown-Kaiser

Priscilla Thompson and Liz Brown-Kaiser

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Pete Buttigieg pivoted his campaign's focus to New Hampshire on Tuesday, telling voters here that what's happening in Iowa makes their voice all the more important. 

The controversy engulfing the Iowa Democratic Party and still-unreleased results from that state's contests means that “now so much will depend on what the famously independent thinking state of New Hampshire decides one week from today," he said.

Image: Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg visits The Works Cafe with U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster (D-NH) in Concord
Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg visits The Works Cafe with Rep. Annie Kuster in Concord, N.H., on Jan. 17, 2020.Elizabeth Frantz / Reuters file

At a morning event here, Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, also touched on Iowa, again claiming at least a measure of victory.

“The hope that propelled me into this campaign is vindicated every day,” he said. “It was vindicated in a big way last night when we had a chance to quiet those questions of whether we belong in this effort in the first place.”

Despite the intimate crowd that turned out to see him Tuesday, not one question was asked by the audience about Monday night’s caucuses or the lack of results.

Addressing a packed room at the Rex Theater, Buttigieg presented a forward-looking message focused on the upcoming first-in-the-nation primary. He hailed the week ahead in New Hampshire as one that will lead to a historic moment. 

Buttigieg again emphasized that now is not the time for "my way or the highway" approaches to politics — though he didn’t single out any opponents by name. Buttigieg has made similar subtle jabs about the use of purity tests by the Democratic Party in the past. 

Asked about the deficit, Buttigieg highlighted his health care plan and made a veiled swipe at Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., criticizing some candidates for saying that voters "don't deserve an explanation on how much it's going to cost at all.”

“This is the way to make sure that we can get that big thing done, and do it without breaking the bank,” he said.

At one point during the question-and-answer period, a woman interjected with a story about trying to access services for her husband, a veteran, and someone coming to her home concerned that she was a “threat.”

Buttigieg responded that he doesn’t consider her a threat and that veterans deserve better.

Blumenthal: Iowa 'has outlived its usefulness' as first state to cast ballots

Emma Thorne

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in an interview Tuesday on MSNBC that Iowa 'has outlived its usefulness as the first state to cast its ballots and shape the future of the nomination process."

Blumenthal added that he agrees with Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill, who said earlier Tuesday that the Democratic caucus "is a quirky, quaint tradition which should come to an end."

"I agree that it is a quaint process," Blumenthal said. "Caucuses may or may not reflect the will of the people. The use of an app, which was inaccessible, failed to download and upload and ultimately proved very possibly that the downfall here is only a symptom of a process that needs reform."

Durbin said Tuesday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that the Iowa caucus is "the most painful situation we currently face for voting."

"We’ve got to have a means for people to express themselves that is reliable," he said. "Unfortunately, the caucus system is not."

Warren says there's a 'tight 3-way race' in Iowa but she's 'feeling good'

Ali Vitali

Molly Roecker

Ali Vitali and Molly Roecker

Warren spoke to supporters in New Hampshire on Tuesday and addressed the situation in Iowa.

“I’m not disappointed," she said. "We came out of Iowa knowing it’s a tight 3-way race at the top. Three of us. Buttigieg, Bernie and I will divide up most of the delegates in Iowa. That’s important to know.”

"I'm feeling good," she added.

Bloomberg skips Iowa and N.H. for Michigan, 'a state we have to win in November'

Yang: 'This race is a muddled mess,' but 'opportunity for us is growing'

Deepa Shivaram

McDaniel calls Iowa 'a debacle,' Cruz says it's 'nuts'

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, winner of the 2016 GOP Iowa caucuses, told "Fox and Friends" on Tuesday that the current confusion surrounding Monday's Democratic caucuses in Iowa "is nuts."

"You would be frustrated, you would be angry," Cruz said, speaking as to how a candidate would feel as a result of Monday's fallout. "These candidates have spent months, if not over a year, busting their rear ends. I mean, knocking on doors, you know, I feel bad really for the volunteers. I mean, going into an Iowa caucus, it is a labor intensive, you've got people — we had people in 2016 who moved up from Texas, and moved from states all over the country to go to Iowa and were out in the snow, knocking on doors."

On the Fox Business Network, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel called Trump "clearly the big winner" Monday.

"We had the highest turnout ever for an incumbent president," she said. "The energy on our side is so strong." 

McDaniel called the Democratic caucus count "a debacle" and insinuated without providing any evidence that Joe Biden's possible performance in the state might have something to do with it.

"I think that the party needs to figure out why all these inconsistencies in Iowa, especially when Joe Biden looked like he was going to have an abysmal, abysmal night last night."

The Iowa Democratic Party said early Tuesday that it would release the results of the Iowa caucuses after "manually verifying all precinct results."

Party Chair Troy Price said the party is "validating every piece of data we have against our paper trail. That system is taking longer than expected, but it's in place to ensure we are eventually able to report results with full confidence."

Biden campaign touts success in 3 Iowa counties

Dartunorro Clark

Biden's campaign is using last night's confusion to raise money as his campaign looks to the New Hampshire primary.

"If anything, last night reinforced our campaign's anti-malarkey stance. But it was just the beginning — and it's the start we need to power us into New Hampshire and beyond. Donate $20 now to help us keep it going," the campaign said in a text to supporters on Tuesday. 

Biden's campaign is also touting its success in three Iowa counties as we continue to wait for the full results of the Iowa caucus. 

The campaign's senior adviser, Symone Sanders, said in a series of tweets on Tuesday that the campaign exceeded expectations in Polk, Louisa, and Linn counties. 

Sanders backer AOC urges everyone to 'breathe'

Deepa Shivaram

Iowa Dems to address campaigns at 11 a.m. local time

Iowa Democratic Party officials are holding a conference call with the representatives from campaigns this morning at 11 a.m. local time (12 p.m. ET), two senior campaign advisers in Iowa told NBC News.

Warren campaign says it will share internal data with Iowa Democratic Party

Warren's campaign said Tuesday it is providing its internal data to the Iowa Democratic Party as the results of Monday's caucuses have yet to be released. 

"Our campaign collected photos and other raw documentation of the results at hundreds of caucus locations as part of our internal reporting process," tweeted campaign manager Roger Lau. "Today we will provide what we have to the Iowa Democratic Party to help ensure the integrity of their process."

In a shot at Buttigieg, senior Warren strategist Joe Rospars tweeted: "Any campaign saying they won or putting out incomplete numbers is contributing to the chaos and misinformation."

'I gave up': Caucus officials previously expressed doubt about results app, emails show

Some precinct captains and caucus organizers also expressed doubt about the app in the days leading up to the caucuses. An email chain provided to NBC News showed that precinct captains and caucus organizers in the Iowa City area knew of problems with the reporting app as early as Monday morning. The email was shared on the condition that identities would be redacted.

“Nobody having trouble with the app should feel dumb!” one of the organizers wrote on Monday morning. “I am hearing way more problems than in 2016… Worst case, call it in, which I expect 90% of the state will be doing anyway.”

“I gave up on the app,” another precinct chair replied.

The app was the subject of scrutiny in the weeks before the caucus due in part to the lack of information around it. The Iowa Democratic Party did not reveal what company developed the app or make it available for independent security testing.

Deval Patrick takes shots at Biden and Buttigieg in post-Iowa statement

Deval Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor who has so far embarked on a little-noticed presidential campaign, took shots at Biden and Buttigieg in his post-Iowa caucuses statement.

"One candidate is calling the results into question because he apparently didn’t do well. Another is declaring victory without any votes being confirmed," Patrick said, without directly naming the candidates. "The way to beat Donald Trump isn’t to act like Donald Trump. Our party and our country deserve better."

Patrick was apparently referring to the Biden campaign releasing a statement railing against “considerable flaws in tonight’s Iowa caucus reporting system," and Buttigieg's claim of victory before any results were released.

Durbin: 'Quirky, quaint' Iowa caucus 'should come to an end'

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday that he thinks "the Democratic caucus in Iowa is a quirky, quaint tradition, which should come to an end."

"As we try to make voting easier for people across America, the Iowa caucus is the most painful situation we currently face for voting," he said. "People who work all day, pick up the kids at day care, do you think they’re headed to the caucus next? Of course not. We’ve got to have a means for people to express themselves that is reliable. Unfortunately, the caucus system is not."

New Hampshire Dem party chair reassures voters ahead of primary: 'It’s simple. Go in, mark the ballot'

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As we wait for the results in the Iowa caucus, eyes are now on New Hampshire, which holds its primary next Tuesday. 

New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley told New Hampshire Public Radio on Tuesday that voters and campaigns should be confident in its process because the state uses paper ballots and holds frequent elections. Also, the secretary of state oversees elections in the state, not the party.

“I think it is impossible to hack, because it includes so many human beings and the fact that there’s the paper trail,” Buckley said of the voting process. 

Buckley added that there has never really been a question about how the New Hampshire primary elections are being conducted, and that they don’t have the scandals that occur in other states because “it’s simple. Go in, mark the ballot.”

“We’ve never had an issue with the New Hampshire primary,” he said, noting that it’s the 100th anniversary of the primary being first in the nation this cycle. “If there’s ever any issue, we can  do a recount.” 

Iowa Republicans defend first-in-the-nation status

Iowa Republicans are coming to the Democrats’ defense.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Joni Ernst released a joint statement Tuesday morning saying that the nominating process “is not suffering because of a short delay in knowing the final results.”

“Iowans and all Americans should know we have complete confidence that every last vote will be counted and every last voice will be heard,” they said. “We look forward to Iowa carrying on its bipartisan legacy of service in the presidential nominating process.”

Acting homeland security head claims Iowa Dems 'declined' offer to test app

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf claimed on Tuesday that Iowa Democrats "declined" his department’s offer to test the app used to report caucus results on Monday for hacking vulnerabilities.

“So our cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency has offered to test that app, from a hacking perspective," Wolf said in an interview on Fox News Tuesday morning. "They declined, and so we're seeing a couple of issues with it. I would say right now we don't see any malicious cyber-activity going on,” 

Wolf said that the issues with the Iowa caucuses are not hacking-related, but described the problem as “more of a stress or a load issue, as well as a reporting issue.” 

Wolf added, “But what I would say is that, given the amount of scrutiny that we have on election security these  days, this is a concerning event and it really goes to the public confidence of our elections."

The Iowa Democratic Party has also said the delay in counting the results is not due to a hacking issue and said that "in preparation for the caucuses, our systems were tested by independent cybersecurity consultants." 

#MayorCheat trends after Iowa caucus problems

Claims of a rigged Iowa caucus have percolated on the far right and far left on Twitter after reporting problems delayed the announcement of the Iowa caucus results. 

On Tuesday morning, the hashtag "#MayorCheat" trended — an apparent reference to former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who was one of several candidates to give a victory-like speech Monday night, despite the lack of results — along with other hashtags insinuating that the caucus has been rigged. That claim has also been made by many high-profile Trump supporters.

The Iowa Democratic Party said Monday night that despite the delay and some "inconsistencies," there was no evidence of a "hack or intrusion" on the app used to report the results.

Iowa Democratic Party blames app 'coding issue' for delay in caucus results

The Iowa Democratic Party said Tuesday that its new app, meant to speed up the reporting of caucus results, suffered from a “coding issue” that instead led to a significant delay in counting and reporting results.

The error, which caused accurately collected data to only be partially reported, pushed the party to resort to manual backups.

"As part of our investigation, we determined with certainty that the underlying data collected via the app was sound," Iowa Democratic Party chairman Troy Price said in a statement. "While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data. We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system. This issue was identified and fixed."

Read the story.

Biden campaign raises ‘concerns’ about ‘integrity’ of Iowa caucuses

Kate Bedingfield, Biden's deputy campaign manager and communications director, said the campaign has "real concerns about the integrity of the process” Tuesday morning during an appearance on CNN.

"I think there were some significant failures in the process last night that should give voters concern," Bedingfield said, citing difficulty that many caucus chairs had reporting results through an app and phone calls.

"I think taken together those are significant concerns," Bedingfield said. "I think they should raise concerns for voters. And, you know, election integrity is obviously of the utmost importance and so we really want to make sure the Iowa Democratic Party addresses this before they put out official data."

The Iowa Democratic has said that their data was "sound" and the delay in the results was not due to a hack or intrusion, rather an abundance of caution to ensure accuracy. They plan to release the results sometime Tuesday.

When asked what reason she has to believe differently than what the Iowa Democratic Party has stated, Bedingfield said, "If you have a process where you can't be confident that the results that are being reported are reflective of the votes that people cast last night and the process, that's a real concern."

Trump's campaign shouts 'rigged' as Iowa caucuses thrown into chaos

President Donald Trump's adult sons and campaign suggested the Iowa caucuses were "rigged" as the state Democratic Party said it found "inconsistencies" and delayed releasing results, leading to widespread confusion in the Hawkeye State.

"Mark my words, they are rigging this thing ... what a mess," Eric Trump, one of Trump's sons, tweeted. "This is why people don’t want the #Dems running our county."

"The fix is in... AGAIN," tweeted Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. "And we get to watch it play out on live TV. Incredible."

Trump did not go quite as far as his children and campaign, simply calling it "an unmitigated disaster," adding in a tweet that "The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is 'Trump.''

There was no evidence that the state Democratic Party, which is overseeing the election, was "rigging" the results. Early Tuesday, the state party said it would release results from the Democratic caucuses later in the day after "manually verifying all precinct results."

Read the story.

Buttigieg: Iowa glitches are 'frustrating'

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Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg called the glitches in the Iowa caucuses results “frustrating” Tuesday morning as he campaigned in Nashua, New Hampshire. 

Buttigieg was heard briefly commenting on the yet-to-be released caucuses results as he was greeted by Nashua mayor, Jim Donchess, at a cafe. 

As Buttigieg left he did not respond to shouted questions about Iowa.

The former mayor added in comments to CBS News while he is “impatient” to hear the results of the caucuses, “it was a phenomenal night for us.” 

Buttigieg said  he was not premature in claiming victory because he was able to gather support in a variety of counties, some of which then-candidate Donald Trump won in 2016.

“Looking at what happened last night, looking at all of the data we got, it was an extraordinary night. And we are absolutely victorious coming into New Hampshire,” he said.

When asked about ensuring that the public trusts the results of the caucuses once they come out, Buttigieg said it's “good news” that there's a paper trail backing up the votes. 

“It's verifiable, but still very, very frustrating,” he said.

Biden campaign manager 'thrilled with our performance'

Joe Biden's campaign manager, Greg Schultz, expressed confidence overnight that the Iowa caucuses showed "a tight race with bunched up candidates," adding it was “a great night for us.” 

"We are thrilled with our performance across the state," he said.

"We have known for months that this contest was going to be extremely close — and that is confirmed by tonight’s caucuses," Schultz added. "There is no official Iowa Democratic Party data at this time — and any data being shared are from campaign internal metrics or head counts.

The campaign's own model showed Biden "overperformed in key districts we needed to be competitive in and we feel confident that this is a tight race with bunched up candidates," he continued. "Let’s be clear: No state delegate equivalents have been awarded. When it comes to the final outcome of the caucuses, this is still a competition for delegates, and the winner will continue to be based on State Delegate Equivalents. We believe  that we have won our fair share of them.”

ANALYSIS: So far, there's only one loser in Iowa: The state's Democratic party

ll the top Democrats are moving on to New Hampshire, because Iowa failed to do the one job it had.

colossal caucus-night technological foul-up — straight out of a dystopian political novel — will make it harder for the state's Democratic Party to justify its prized status as the first in the nation to hold a presidential election contest every four years. More immediately, it provided an opening for both Republicans and Democrats to question the eventual outcome of this round of caucuses, and it threw into doubt the validity of varying election systems in races for federal office.

Kurt Meyer, the chairman of the Tri-County Democratic Party, which includes three rural Iowa counties, said he’s “very worried” about the future of the caucuses. 

“There were already enough pea shooters out there coming for Iowa. There were 49 other states saying, ‘Why does Iowa get to do this?’” he said. “And now we just poured a gallon of kerosene on what was a smoldering ember.”

Read the analysis.

Trump calls caucus count 'an unmitigated disaster,' claims 'a very big victory'

No winner? No problem. Candidates give victory-like speeches in Iowa without any results

Amid prolonged delays in the reporting of results from the Iowa caucuses, there are still no numbers, and no winner.

And yet, a number of Democratic candidates took the stage at their respective campaign headquarters to deliver speeches late Monday night that very closely resembled declarations of victory as they vowed to push on to the next nominating contest in New Hampshire and beyond.

The speeches — by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., entrepreneur Andrew Yang and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg — were the latest act in an unprecedented and bizarre series of events on Iowa’s Democratic caucus night.

Read the story.

Results expected later Tuesday, Iowa Democratic Party says

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Results in the Iowa caucuses will be released later Tuesday, Troy Price, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, said. 

In a very brief call with reporters, which took place shortly after the state party updated the campaigns, he said that the party is manually verifying precinct reports, which is taking longer than expected.

He reiterated that the issue is a reporting one, not a hack, and did not give timeline for when to expect tallies.

Warren projects optimism about her finish, vows to 'fight hard'

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Warren continued to pitch her message of "big structural change" to expand opportunity for every American as the delay in reporting Iowa caucus results continued into the night. 

"I'm here tonight because I believe that big dreams are still possible in America," she told the crowd to rousing applause. "Americans do big things because that's who we are."

Warren also took a swipe at Trump, who is delivering the final State of the Union address of his first term on Tuesday. 

"Tomorrow, Donald Trump will make a speech about the State of the Union, but I have a message for every American: our union is stronger than Donald Trump," Warren said. "And in less than a year, our union will be stronger than ever when that one man is replaced by one very persistent woman." 

Warren spent the crux of her speech differentiating herself with Trump, contrasting their upbringing and life's work — Trump was born to wealthy parents in New York and avoided military service, while she grew up in a modest Oklahoma home with three brothers who served in the military. 

"I tell you this because of a person's values matter; a president's value matter and the only thing Donald Trump values is Donald Trump," she said. "He believes that the government is just one more thing to exploit, a toll to enrich himself and his rich buddies at everyone else's expense. I believe the government should work for everyone." 

Despite the delay in results, Warren appeared optimistic about the outcome — rallying her supports ahead of the other early voting state contests this month. 

"Tonight showed that our path to victory is to fight hard for the changes that Americans are demanded," she said. "Our agenda isn't just a progressive agenda; it isn't just a democratic agenda; it's an American agenda."

ANALYSIS: Claim victory and move on

Smart move by former Mayor Pete Buttigieg to declare victory.

For the next few hours at least, he’s going to raise money like a boss. His campaign will be energized when he hits the ground in New Hampshire. He sounds upbeat, he gets to give remarks about the future that sounds like the first bookend on what would be closed by a November election-night victory speech.  “Tonight, Iowa chose a new path,” he said.

So what if he’s wrong? He’ll get fact-checked to death. He’ll get made fun of on TV. The money won’t go back to the donors. He won’t lose energy in New Hampshire because of the speech he gave. And for anyone who watches clips in the morning, he’s the only candidate who looks like a winner. Low risk, big reward.

Yang makes math jokes about caucus result delays

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Yang took the delay in reporting caucus results in good stride, coming out to give a version of his stump speech Monday night at his campaign headquarters at the the Iowa Events Center.

"I gotta say I'm a numbers guy and I'm still waiting on numbers for tonight," Yang said.

Yang struck a more serious note when he addressed the goals for his campaign as he prepares for the New Hampshire debate later in the week.

"The math that I care about most about is this movement is already something that has shocked the political world. And it's going to keep growing from here," Yang said.

Iowa Democrats hung up on campaigns after call gets heated

The Iowa Democrats hosted a conference call with the campaigns within the last hour.

Sources confirm the Iowa Dems hung up on the campaigns as campaigns pressed for more information about the issues with reporting and when they would receive more data/results. Sources say the call got very heated.

'On to New Hampshire,' Biden says as delays drag on

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Amid "inconsistencies" the state party has said it found with the caucus results, former Vice President Joe Biden rallied his supporters at Drake University in Iowa and vowed to soldier on through the Democratic primary.

"From our indications, it's going to be close, we are going to walk out of here with our share of delegates. We don't know exactly what it is yet, but we feel good about where we are," Biden said. "So it's on to New Hampshire. Nevada, South Carolina. And well beyond. We are in this for the long haul."

Biden continued to pitch himself as the best person to take on President Donald Trump, saying he has broad support and will unite people across demographics.

"Four more years of Donald Trump will fundamentally alter the character of this nation," he said. "Character is on the ballot. That's what it is."

"Folks, we're gonna do it, I promise you we're going to get this done," he added. "And God willing, we'll do it together."

 

Sanders predicts 'we're going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa'

Sanders, speaking at his election headquarters in Des Moines, is the latest candidate to deliver a televised speech absent any results, following Klobuchar, Biden and Warren.

“I have a strong feeling that at some point the results will be announced. And when those results are announced, I have a good feeling we’re going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa,” Sanders told an enthusiastic crowd.

Sanders then proceeded into a stump speech that wasn’t short on criticism of President Donald Trump and that touched on income inequality and Medicare For All.

“The message that Iowa has sent to the nation, the message shared by the American people, is that we want a government that represents all of us, not just wealthy campaign contributors and the 1 percent,” Sanders said. 

Biden camp shreds 'considerable flaws' in letter to Iowa Democratic Party

The Biden campaign has sent a letter to the Iowa Democratic Party about tonight's delays. From Dana Remus, Biden's general counsel:

 "I write on behalf of the Biden for President Campaign regarding the considerable flaws in tonight’s Iowa Caucus reporting system. The app that was intended to relay Caucus results to the Party failed; the Party’s back-up telephonic reporting system likewise has failed. Now, we understand that Caucus Chairs are attempting to — and, in many cases, failing to — report results telephonically to the Party. These acute failures are occurring statewide.

We appreciate that you plan to brief the campaigns momentarily on these issues, and we plan to participate. However, we believe that the campaigns deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond, before any official results are released. We look forward to hearing from you promptly.

In the meantime, we are on to New Hampshire, on the road to the most important election of our lifetimes."

Klobuchar implores her crowd to 'stay up, stay happy'

No results are in yet, but that didn't stop Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., from coming out to give what sounded like a victory speech Monday night.

Other candidates, including former Vice President Joe Biden, quickly followed suit. 

“We know there’s delays, but we know one thing: we are punching above our weight,” she told a cheering crowd of supporters in a televised address. “We are feeling so good tonight.”

The senator isn't expected to come first here in Iowa's caucuses, but she enjoyed a late polling surge and took advantage of the delay in the results to give a version of her stump speech.

“Somehow, some way, I’m going to get on a plane to New Hampshire tonight,” she said. “Even in a crowded field of candidates, even during the well-earned impeachment hearing of Donald Trump that kept me bolted to my senate desk for two weeks. We kept fighting, and you kept fighting for me.”

With a crowd that interrupted her to chant "Amy! Amy! Amy!," Klobuchar encouraged her supporters to stay up late and wait for the tally.

"Stay up, stay happy!" she said.

'Inconsistencies' caused Iowa delays, party says

The Iowa Democratic Party blamed tonight's delays on "inconsistencies" with the caucus results.

"We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report," Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Mandy McClure said. "This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results."

Iowa results backup system 'a disaster'

A source familiar with the process says the results app that the party is using is clearly not working and the backup phone line is likewise “a disaster.”

All campaigns participating in the party briefing momentarily.

Iowa Democratic Party speaking to campaigns about delays

There’s a call between the Iowa Democratic Party and representatives from each campaign happening right now, a senior Sanders campaign aide said.

Sanders, Klobuchar campaigns react to delays

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The Sanders and Klobuchar campaigns reacted to the result delays.

"Let's see what's happening," Ari Rabin-Havt, Sanders' deputy campaign manager, said. "I will be concerned when I have information. You guys have the same information I have."

Klobuchar’s team is “feeling good” right now about their results — they were unexpectedly viable in satellite caucuses today in Arizona and Florida, both with large turnouts despite not doing much organizing in those states. They’re also unexpectedly viable in some Des Moines suburbs, so they’re all positive right now.

What they’re not positive about is not having the official results yet.

Iowa Democrats set expectations for lower-than-predicted turnout

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Democratic Party released their first on-the-record statement as they've delayed releasing results from Monday's caucuses — and the big news is turnout. 

Communications director Mandy McClure said the party's "early data indicates turnout is on pace for 2016," which would be much lower than predictions of record turnout. 

Just 172,000 Democrats participated in the caucuses in 2016, which was way down from the record set in 2008, when 239,000 turned out. 

The party had been preparing for record turnout and many Iowa Democrats thought the jumbo-sized 2020 field would help drive more people to the polls. But if the party's early projection proves true, those predictions may have been way off. 

What's this about an app?

With the reports of the Iowa caucus results delayed, there's some question about whether a new smartphone app meant to speed up reporting has been more trouble than it's worth.

NBC News' Ben Popken wrote about the app in January, noting that security experts expressed come concern about the app, noting that it was expected to be downloaded on to the phones of caucus managers.

The app was not the only way for precinct managers to report results, with a phone hotline also available in addition to paper backups.

The new app first showed signs of trouble earlier in the day, with some precinct leaders and county chairs stating that they were unable — or unwilling — to use the app.

And by the way, the app is supposed to used in the upcoming Nevada caucuses.

Iowa Democrats give more info on delays, say turnout matches 2016

Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Mandy McClure said in a statement, "The integrity of the results is paramount. We have experienced a delay in the results due to quality checks and the fact that the IDP is reporting out three data sets for the first time. What we know right now is that around 25% of precincts have reported, and early data indicates turnout is on pace for 2016." 

How coin tosses — yes, really — are used in Iowa's caucuses

DES MOINES, Iowa — A handful of coin flips have been used to help determine outcomes of tied results in a few Iowa caucus precincts Monday night, according to reports.

Iowa Democratic Party rules dictate that in some circumstances if, "two or more preference groups are tied...a coin toss shall determine which group" has to disband or get another delegate.

A coin toss is used in a few cases, including to determine which candidate gets an extra delegate if two or more candidates' supporters are tied at the margins. In cases where two or more groups are tied for the lowest number of supporters in the caucus room and both are at risk of being forced to disband, a coin toss can determine which group of supporters has to go elsewhere. 

There were 13 coin tosses statewide in 2016 — seven of which went for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and six of which went for Hillary Clinton, according to the Iowa Democratic Party.

Those coin flips were highly controversial, with Sanders supporters claiming they tipped the race towards Clinton, even though it was later determined that more went for him than Clinton.

Iowa Democratic caucus race too early to call, according to NBC News

DES MOINES, Iowa — Early entrance polls show four leading candidates vying for first place on Monday night in Iowa's Democratic caucuses, with final results remaining unclear after a delay in their release.

Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were all contesting for the lead, according to an NBC News entrance poll.

Results were much slower than expected, with no data being released by 10:15 p.m. ET. The Iowa Democratic Party, which runs the caucuses, says it is taking quality control steps out of an abundance of caution. By this time in 2016, well over 50 percent of the results were in.

The party is, for the first time, releasing three separate numbers from the caucuses — at the beginning of the caucus, at the end and how many delegates that translates to — which has added to the complexity of the process.

Support for each candidate will likely change inside each precinct throughout the caucus process, which is very different from traditional voting.

Read more.

Why no Democratic results yet? 'Quality control checks,' Iowa party says

Per the Iowa State Democratic Party:

“We are doing our quality control checks, making sure the numbers are accurate. People are still caucusing, were working to report results soon.”

At this point in the night in 2016, we had 80 percent of the vote in.